When we come to the period of the Roman occupation, we might, in view of the fact that the great military road, Erming or Ermine Street, crosses the Welland close to the present town, expect to find evidences of a considerable Roman settlement at this important point of the road. It is somewhat surprising, therefore, that, with the exception of some comparatively insignificant discoveries to the west, between Stamford and Tinwell, nothing has at present come to light which can be said to point to the existence of a settlement in Roman times on the site of the present Stamford. Possibly the proximity to the south and north, respectively, of the important stations of Durobrivæ (Castor) and Causennæ[84](Ancaster) may have rendered it unnecessary to establish another and intermediate station. At any rate the fact remains that we cannot adduce any proof of the existence of a settlement or village here till Saxon times, and it is probable, therefore, that the name Stamford or Stanford (a name of Saxon origin, from stan, stone, and ford) is the first and only one which the place has borne. The name doubtless had reference to the ford by which, before the erection of a bridge substantial enough for horse traffic, communication between the two sides of the Welland was maintained; and though we find, as is commonly the case with place-names, many variations of spelling, such as Staunford, Staunforth, Staundforde, &c., the name has remained substantially the same.
The earliest contemporary reference to Stamford is found in a charter of Wolfere, King of Mercia, dated 664, wherein “all that part of the town of Staunforde ... beyond the bridge,” is stated to belong to the Abbey of Medeshamstede (Peterborough).[85] It appears, therefore, that even at this early date the town occupied both sides of the river, and was, we may fairly suppose, a place of some size. A few years before this, namely, in 658 (if we may believe the testimony of Prior Wessington of Durham, writing in the fifteenth century),[86] was founded the earliest religious house in the Stamford district. This was St. Leonard’s Priory, erected by Wilfrid, the friend of Oswy, King of Northumbria, and afterwards Bishop of York. Wilfrid bestowed this new foundation upon the monastery of Lindisfarne, where he had received his education, and on the removal of the monks from Lindisfarne to Durham, the Priory of St. Leonard, Stamford, became a dependency of Durham. The site of this priory (of which more anon) is about a quarter of a mile eastward of the present town.
Stamford, from the Meadows.
The ninth century was a period of stress in this part of England, and Stamford was called upon to furnish a contingent of young fighters to defend the country against the marauding Danes. The Danes, however, proved too strong, and Stamford soon fell under the foreign yoke and was joined with Lincoln, Leicester, Derby and Nottingham to form the Danish “Five Burghs.”
Space will not permit us to narrate the varying fortunes of the opposing forces—English and Danes—in the almost incessant struggles which marked the period preceding the Norman Conquest—struggles in which Stamford was held sometimes by one party, sometimes by the other, and not infrequently was in the hands of both, when the river formed the dividing line between the rival camps.
In the year 972 Eadgar granted, or, it may be, confirmed to the Abbey of Peterborough the privilege of coining money at Stamford, but the exact position of the mint in the southern part of the town cannot now be determined. It is an interesting and significant fact that coins of the Stamford mint have been met with in considerable numbers in hoards found in Scandinavia.[87]
The fortification on the north bank of the Welland was doubtless originally a Danish earthwork, an English stronghold being erected by Alfred in opposition on the south side, near the present Midland Railway Station. When the Danes had secured a foothold they seem to have replaced their earthen defences by stone walls which encircled their settlement. At the present day considerable portions of the Stamford town walls are in existence, though these have obviously been reconstructed from time to time, and nothing earlier than Norman work can be positively identified in the portions still remaining. Perhaps the most striking vestige now to be seen is a round bastion on the west side of the town, near Rutland Terrace. Speed’s map of Stamford (1600) shows eleven towers in the line of the walls, together with seven principal gates and two posterns. The southern town does not appear to have ever been defended by walls, though it had five fortified gates.[88] All the gates in both sections of the town have now been demolished, the last (St. George’s Gate) as lately as 1806. The water-mill, situated near the Castle, was originally built by Edward the Confessor, and is still known as the King’s Mill, though the present structure is of the eighteenth century.
Soon after the Conquest the Danish castle was replaced by a substantial Norman building, and the site is still marked by an Early English gate and a portion of the arcaded wall of a chamber which was subsequently used as a manor court. At present the Castle site is occupied by an iron foundry, and it is among the buildings, sheds and heaps of scrap iron connected therewith, that the visitor has to search for what remains of the old mediæval stronghold. It seems a sad pity that a spot of such historic interest and picturesque position should ever have been allowed to fall into the state of unsightly neglect which characterises it to-day.
The dawn of the twelfth century saw the beginning of the long era of building in and around Stamford, the visible results of which have rendered the town so famous among generations of ecclesiologists and students of architecture. St. Leonard’s Priory, already mentioned, which had suffered severely during the Danish incursions, was rebuilt at this time, and, judging by the remains of the nave of the Priory Church (which is all that now remains), must have been a noble edifice. The west front, the portion latest in date (c. 1190) of the existing fabric, is one of the finest examples of its kind in the country. In the centre of the lowest stage is a blocked doorway surmounted by a round arch of four highly enriched orders. The arch is supported by groups of elegant detached shafts, terminating in foliage caps of Early English character and exquisite workmanship. On either side of this central door is another smaller recess of similar character. Above, in the second stage, is an arcade of seven round-headed arches with chevron ornament, three being open and four blocked; while over this again, in the gable, is a vesica-shaped moulded recess. Sad to relate, this beautiful old building is now doing duty as a cart-shed!